Iced Tea Wars

So I’m guessing a lot of you Americans out there like iced tea? Or maybe you don’t. During lunch today I was sitting with two of the Iraqi boys when the pitcher came around. It was a brownish/orangish color so they immediately asked “Is it Iced tea or apple juice?” with wide eyes and a tint of dread in their voices.  Some other kid picks it up to check and says “apple juice”. They relax. I go “whats wrong with iced tea?”

 

“its discusting!” one boy replies. I gasp. 

 

 “No its not! Its good!”

 

“It isnt! Tea should be HOT not COLD! Why cold?”

 

Up untill then I figured iced tea was a normal thing for everybody. But apparently these boys wouldn’t have drank a hot beverage cold. I never thought of it that way. I just thought “mmm Brisk” but the tea in the dining hall wasn’t Brisk. It was just tea that they put in the fridge. I told them that if they tasted Brisk maybe they’d think otherwise because it tastes totally different than hot tea.

 

The whole conversation was funny to me. Seeing how some Iraqi and some Americans thought about a such simple thing as a drink was quite interesting.

 

                                                                    Fatima Abdul-Haqq

                                                                               ~*Peace out*~